New South Wales public hospital nurses will strike statewide for the first time in almost a decade, as frustrations over understaffing, pay and conditions boil over.
Votes on industrial action are still underway in some branches, but the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) says a majority have endorsed the industrial action planned for 15 February.
Thousands of nurses will walk off the job for up to 24 hours on Tuesday, says the union, which represents 48,000 nurses in NSW public hospitals.
It is the first statewide strike since July 2013, and comes as NSW hospitals remain on high alert amid the pandemic, with staff furloughed as the COVID-19 patient load remains high.
Skeleton staff - enough to care for the critically ill and preserve life - will remain at work.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association says staffing levels in NSW hospitals are at crisis point. Source: AAP
NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes on Wednesday told AAP the decision to undertake industrial action was never taken lightly, but staffing levels in NSW hospitals are at crisis point.
"Even before COVID, nurses would commonly talk about not having a toilet break, not being able to get a lunch break, not been able to get a drink," he said.
"That has all been multiplied a hundredfold during COVID.
"It's been a very traumatic two years for nurses and midwives."
The union's primary request is that the government combat understaffing by implementing nursing and midwifery staffing ratios, as in Queensland and Victoria.
"To hear the NSW premier in January continually say the whole system was coping when... our members were on their knees... was a real breaking point for many," Mr Holmes said.
"They are saying to the government 'stop telling us to cope, we need a commitment to nurse to patient ratios on a shift-by-shift basis'."
However, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday said the patient ratios the union wants aren't effective, and accused it of playing politics.
"The advice that I've received is that there is substantive challenges to that and it hasn't actually worked so well in other states," he said.
He called on the union to come back to the table and work through the issues without industrial action.
Nurses from regional New South Wales hold a rally outside the NSW Parliament in Sydney, Tuesday, March 19, 2013. Source: AAP
"What I want is reasonable, robust discussions to get outcomes," he said.
"Let's not play politics. We don't want to get back to the old union games."
Mr Holmes says the union has sought to meet with the premier, but has been told he is too busy.
The strike will coincide with rallies across the state, with members to flock to NSW Parliament on its first sitting day of the year.
Rallies will also be held in Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Bathurst, Bega, Lismore and Tamworth.
The union also wants a "fair" pay rise, above the 2.5 per cent offered by the government, and no changes to COVID-19 workers compensation.
The government is trying to scrap an automatic presumption under workers' compensation rules that essential workers were infected with the virus at work.
If successful, essential workers - including doctors, nurses, paramedics, teachers and supermarket workers - will have to prove they caught COVID-19 on the job to access compensation, something unions say is virtually impossible.
